Marine 'Dream Machine' Arrives in Afghanistan

The U.S. Marine Corps has just released the first footage of the V-22 aircraft in Afghanistan in what could be a crucial test of the controversial aircraft.

The controversial tiltrotor, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, was involved in four crashes that killed 30 people.

Ten of the aircraft were sent to southern Afghanistan, where they will be used to carry troops and supplies.

"This is going to be biggest test yet of the Osprey," says Richard Whittle, author of the forthcoming book, Dream Machine: The Untold History of the V -22. "When they went to Iraq, they happened to go to Anbar proivncce when peace broke out.; now they'll be in Helmand province in Afghanistan and the war there is pretty heavy."

One of the most dramatic and important things it could do in Afghanistan, though, is save lives by getting wounded troops to medical care a lot faster "than a helicopter can. "The Marines paid a high price in dollars and lives to get the Osprey," says Whittle. "Afghanistan's a place where they can start proving it was worth it."